Resilience #2 The Right Track

Engineering works.  Honestly? I’m not sure it’s working for me. Don’t get me wrong; this isn’t a rant about the state of the railways, just a personal observation.  See, I always thought trains were pretty straight-forward.  Literally.  You hop on, bag a seat if you’re lucky, and head off to face your destiny via Newport Pagnell.

Until, that is, you encounter a ‘scheduled diversion’ due to engineering works.  The ‘scheduled’ bit underlines its legitimacy, yet it’s not quite so straight-forward.  It’s backwards, forwards and back again.  The train keeps changing direction.  It’s the ‘Pushmi-Pullyu’ of the locomotive world. One minute I’m facing the direction of travel, the next it feels all Blackpool Pleasure Beach.  Without the pleasure.

I know; it’s a small thing but disconcerting, nevertheless.  You think you’re on the right track and then events take a different course.  And things always take a different course.  Whenever we think it’s under control, ‘it’ has other ideas.  However well-prepared you are, the potential for something to go Pete Tong is ever-present.  Annoyingly, Pete Tong never actually leaves the building.

Accepting we’re all subject to engineering works – scheduled or otherwise – is the best way of keeping track of your life.  There simply isn’t a right track, but numerous different variations.  The rails might be fixed, but you most definitely are not.  You can change direction umpteen times.  Speed up, slow down, reassess, refuel, and re-evaluate.  Reenergise.

Maybe life isn’t meant to be straightforward.  Maybe it’s meant to be just the opposite: a death-defying rollercoaster of a ride.  If you’ve ever been on a rollercoaster, I’ll wager you had to queue for some time.  I’m guessing that having finally reached the front, if you discovered that there were no rolls – no ups and downs, twist or turns – you were in fact riding a ‘coaster,’ you might feel somewhat let-down.

It’s the unexpected and unforeseen that’s integral to the adventure.  And your story should be an epic adventure story, the ultimate white-knuckle ride.  So, the next time things don’t go to plan?  Congratulations: you’ve reached the front of the queue.  Strap yourself in.